1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scoliosis brace having an angle adjustment unit, and more particularly to a scoliosis brace adapted to freely adjust the correction angle according to the curvature of the spinal column of a scoliosis patient so that the patient can be treated efficiently.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As generally known in the art, scoliosis is derived from Greek skolios meaning crooked, and refers to a medical condition in which a person's spinal column is curved from side to side. A healthy person's spinal column constitutes a straight line together with the head and legs when viewed from the front or back. However, some people's spinal column has a lateral curve for various reasons. Scoliosis includes functional scoliosis, which results from bad postures or trauma but involves no structural change of the spinal column, and structural scoliosis, which involves a structural change of the spinal column. In many cases, little is known about the cause of the structural scoliosis, which tends to worsen gradually and may even degrade the function of the heart or lungs.
Treatment of scoliosis includes brace-based treatment, which is usually selected when the angle of curvature is 20-40°, and surgical treatment. Braces for scoliosis include a Milwaukee brace, which extends up to the neck, a thoracolumbo brace, which extends below the armpits, etc.
Such conventional braces for treating scoliosis include a support unit for protecting the patient's waist and a retaining unit for retaining the support unit on the waist. The support unit defines an inwardly curved surface, which is maintained by a number of reinforcement straps embedded in the support unit. The retaining unit has an auxiliary band, to which Velcro is attached.
When such a scoliosis brace is worn, the reinforcement straps embedded in the support unit accurately supports the lumbar vertebrae, and the Velcro of the retaining unit firmly retains the brace to apply pressure to the lumbar vertebra at a predetermined angle.
However, the conventional scoliosis brace has a problem in that, since each scoliosis patient has a different curvature of the spinal column, the degree of improvement that can be expected when the brace having a fixed correction angle is worn is limited. Furthermore, it requires a large amount of money, time, and effort to provide a brace having a correction angle customized to each patient.